Texas Body Paint Competition

Since its launch in 2010, Beyond the Canvas has grown into an arts organization associated with nearly 100 body painters, special effects artists, models, photographers and other creative types. Founded by art and music enthusiast Tomas Vasquez and sponsored by the Avenida Guadalupe Association, the collective regularly comes together for showcases, competitions and special events in San Antonio (as well as Louisiana, South Carolina, Georgia and New York) and also works with area charities such as the Believe It Foundation, a nonprofit dedicated to “the inclusion of kids with physical challenges into the lives and experiences of their typical peers.” Through their outreach efforts with the Believe It Foundation, BTC has touched the lives of kids like 18-year-old Xavier Sanchez. Born without arms or legs, Sanchez recently visited the Beyond the Canvas studio and found a new level of confidence after being transformed with body paint. Following a theme of “Dreams and Delusions,” the outfit’s 10th annual Texas Body Paint Competition brings together 25 body paint artists and 25 “live canvases” for a creative battle with guest judges from the reality series Skin Wars, performances by hoop artists, the Afro-Brazilian troupe Capoeira Luanda and stand-up comic Cleto Rodriguez, and more than $1,000 in cash prizes.